Van Ness–UDC station is an

island platform An island platform (also center platform, centre platform) is a station layout arrangement where a single platform is positioned between two tracks within a railway station, tram stop or transitway interchange. Island platforms are popular ...

Washington Metro The Washington Metro (or simply Metro), formally the Metrorail,Google Books search/preview

station serving the Forest Hills and

North Cleveland Park North Cleveland Park is a neighborhood in the Northwest quadrant of Washington, D.C. It is bounded by Albemarle Street NW to the north, Rodman and Quebec Streets NW to the south, Wisconsin and Nebraska Avenues NW to the west, and Connecticut Ave ...

neighborhoods A neighbourhood (British English, Irish English, Australian English and Canadian English) or neighborhood (American English; see spelling differences) is a geographically localised community within a larger city, town, suburb or rural ar ...

of Washington, D.C.,

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

. The station was opened on December 5, 1981, and is operated by the

Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA ), commonly referred to as Metro, is a tri-jurisdictional government agency that operates transit service in the Washington metropolitan area. WMATA was created by the United States Co ...

(WMATA). Providing service for the Red Line, the station is on the 4200 block of

Connecticut Avenue Connecticut Avenue is a major thoroughfare in the Northwest quadrant of Washington, D.C., and suburban Montgomery County, Maryland. It is one of the diagonal avenues radiating from the White House, and the segment south of Florida Avenue was o ...

Northwest The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each ...

, with exits on either side of Connecticut Avenue. The station is also close to the

University of the District of Columbia The University of the District of Columbia (UDC) is a public historically black land-grant university in Washington, D.C. It was established in 1851 and is the only public university in the city. UDC is a member school of the Thurgood Marshall ...

(UDC), as well as to both

Howard University School of Law Howard University School of Law (Howard Law or HUSL) is the law school of Howard University, a private, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is one of the oldest law schools in the country and the ol ...

and the

Edmund Burke School Edmund Burke School is an independent college preparatory school in Washington, D.C. Located on Connecticut Avenue NW, two blocks from the Van Ness - UDC metro station, Burke enrolls approximately 315 students in Grades 6-12. Founded in 1968 by ...

Station layout

Van Ness–UDC station is the northernmost station in the tunnel beneath Connecticut Avenue, one of Washington's busiest thoroughfares. After northbound trains leave the station, the tunnel shifts westwards underneath Yuma Street and at the next station, Tenleytown–AU, the tunnel then parallels the route of

Wisconsin Avenue Wisconsin Avenue is a major thoroughfare in Washington, D.C., and its Maryland suburbs. The southern terminus begins in Georgetown just north of the Potomac River, at an intersection with K Street under the elevated Whitehurst Freeway. The ...

into

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; ...

. Architecturally, Van Ness–UDC is similar to other stations along the underground stretch of the Red Line between Woodley Park and

Medical Center Medical center or medical centre may refer to: Medical care * A collection of medical services on the same site, such as the services of a general practitioner, pharmacist, pathology, radiology, dentist etc. * Clinic * Hospital * Academic medic ...

. Because of the high cost of the four-coffer waffle design and the relative large depth of these stations, pre-fabricated concrete segments were shipped to the construction site and placed together to form the structure of the station. This resulted in what is now known as the "Arch I" station design of the Washington Metro. Access to the station is provided by banks of escalators on either side of Connecticut Avenue, north of Veazey Terrace, which meet in an upper mezzanine and connect to a set of three long escalators to reach fare control. An elevator on the southwest corner of the intersection connects directly to the main mezzanine.

History

The station opened on December 5, 1981. Its opening coincided with the completion of of rail northwest of the

Dupont Circle station Dupont Circle station is an underground rapid transit station on the Red Line of the Washington Metro in Washington, D.C. Located below the circle of the same name, it is one of the busiest stations in the Metro system, with an average of 16, ...

and the opening of the

Cleveland Park Cleveland Park is a residential neighborhood in the Northwest quadrant of Washington, D.C. It is located at and bounded approximately by Rock Creek Park to the east, Wisconsin and Idaho Avenues to the west, Klingle and Woodley Roads to the ...

and

Woodley Park Woodley Park is a neighborhood in Northwest, Washington, DC. It is bounded on the north by Woodley Road and Klingle Road, on the east by the National Zoo and Rock Creek Park, on the south by Calvert Street, on the southwest by Cleveland Avenue, a ...

stations. It would serve as the northwestern terminus of the Red Line until the opening of an extension to the then-named Grosvenor station on August 25, 1984.

References

External links

Station entrances on Google Maps Street View
{{DEFAULTSORT:Van Ness-UDC station Forest Hills (Washington, D.C.) Washington Metro stations in Washington, D.C. Stations on the Red Line (Washington Metro) Railway stations in the United States opened in 1981 Railway stations in Washington, D.C., at university and college campuses 1981 establishments in Washington, D.C. Railway stations located underground in Washington, D.C. Washington Metro stations located underground